Page 34 of A Little Thankful

Then he yawned as he rang the bell.

“I heard you guys got the fire out,” I told him.

“Yeah, by yesterday afternoon, it was totally contained. Didn’t lose one structure, and no casualties.”

I’d never told Hunter how much I admired what he did for a living. Putting yourself in harm's way on a daily basis was some kind of heroism I didn’t understand, but I admired the hell out of it, and him.

“You’re pretty incredible… what you do, I mean. You save lives,” I said.

“Thanks,” he said. “I do what I can to help.”

I was about to tell him that I thought he was a true hero, when the door swung open and derailed my attempt at praise. As soon as I saw Sage with baby Autumn in her sling, giggling, legs and arms jerking with joy, and those precious belly laughs, she melted my heart. All that fatigue I’d been feeling suddenly disappeared, and my attempt at telling Hunter what I truly thought of him would have to wait for another time.

“She’s so excited to see everyone,” Sage said, as she gave each of us a sweet kiss. She looked absolutely beautiful, with her hair swept up in a messy bun on top of her head, loose-fitting jeans, a snug white sweater, and bare feet with powder blue painted toenails.

She had the prettiest feet I’d ever seen, and I loved that she didn’t like to wear shoes in the house.

“I’m so happy to see both my girls.” The words slid out of my mouth like I’d said them before, which I never had. I hadn’t seen either of them since Monday when we decided to buy the old lumber warehouse, and I’d been missing them more than I thought I ever could.

I ran my hand over the top of Autumn’s silky head, and kissed her sweet forehead. It made me emotional, like I was finally realizing the scope of all of this.

They were my family now.

My girls.

My loved ones.

Wow!

Both Hunter and Mace kissed Sage, then gave little Autumn all the loving she required, and at the moment, she required a lot.

“Come on in,” Sage said. “My dad should be here any minute.”

And with those words, I could feel the burst of tension as we followed her into the kitchen.

“I didn’t think he wanted to make it back here in time for the holiday,” Mace said.

“According to my mom, he’s better now. Came to some conclusions.”

“How much better?” Hunter wanted to know as we entered the kitchen.

She turned back to us. “That has yet to be determined.”

We tried to let that go, and simply went with the flow of things.

After we delivered the wine and baked goods to Martha and Iris, we each took the offered beer.

“You boys make yourselves at home. You’re family now. There’s beer in the fridge, and wine in the wine fridge next to it. If you prefer red, there are several bottles open in the dining room. Please help yourselves to whatever you’d like.

Hunter and I grabbed a beer, while Mace poured a glass of white wine. The tension didn’t abate, even when we saw that big golden bird slide out of the oven.

“He’s here,” Martha said, just as she was getting ready to transfer the bird to a platter. “Maybe I’ll wait for him to make the transfer. This turkey is at least twenty-five pounds.”

“I can help,” Hunter offered. “I’ve done this several times. There’s a trick to it.”

And he took over, just as Vernon walked into the kitchen, wearing a big, wide grin.

“You made it, Dad. I’m so glad,” Sage told him as Autumn let out a little yelp. “She’s excited to see you.”

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